Holy Cross Falls at Bucknell

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LEWISBURG, Pa. – Senior forward Jehyve Floyd tied his career high with 25 points, but the Holy Cross men's basketball team was defeated by Bucknell 93-78 at Sojka Pavilion. The Crusaders fall to 11-7 overall and 2-3 in the Patriot League with the loss, while Bison improve to 10-7 on the season and 4-1 in the conference.

The Bison made 51.7 percent of their field goal attempts and 86.4 percent of their foul shots on the night, while holding a 34-26 edge in rebounds and a 22-13 advantage in free throw attempts. Holy Cross was able to connect on 50.8 percent of its shots from the floor, but only hit 61.5 percent of its attempts at the charity stripe.

Bucknell opened the game with a 13-4 run and was later up 22-17 with 12 minutes left in the first half. The Bison then scored 13 straight points to extend their lead to 18 (35-17), before eventually going up by 21 (43-22). The Crusaders were able to trim the margin to 16 (51-35) heading into the locker room.

The Bucknell lead would grow as large as 26 points early in the second half, and stood at 77-53 with 11 minutes left in regulation. Holy Cross scored the next 13 points to close the gap to 11 (77-66), and later cut the margin to nine points (84-75) with 5:18 to go on a three-point play by Floyd. But the Crusaders would score just three more points the rest of the way, as the Bison held on for the victory.

Sophomore guard Austin Butler finished the night with 17 points, nine rebounds and three assists, while sophomore forward Matt Faw added 12 points, two rebounds and two assists. Bucknell was led by Nate Sestina with 32 points and seven boards.

The Crusaders will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 19, when they play host to Loyola (Md.) at 12:05 p.m.